5 signs you're ready for a career change

By Rosa Ritchie | 24 January 2018

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Reflecting on the highs and lows of your career, it’s worth pausing to ask yourself whether it's giving you satisfaction. It’s normal to face challenges at work, or to find yourself performing some tasks that aren’t your favourite, but how do you tell when it’s time to move on? You spend so many days of your life at work, it’s incredibly important that you navigate yourself toward a job you love. Here are 5 sure-fire signs that you’re ready for a new job.

Signs that you're ready for a career change

You dread going to work on Monday.

You’re not learning anything new.

You hate talking about your job.

You’ve got career envy.

You catch yourself browsing employment websites.

1. You dread going to work on Monday.

Everyone looks forward to the weekend, and we definitely all feel a little gloomy on Sunday night. You’ve just had 48 precious hours of brunch, napping, drinking wine, cuddling your dog…. whatever you do on the weekend, weekends are great. And all of a sudden it’s over, and it dawns on you that it’s going to be five whole days before there’s another weekend. Don’t worry, I get it. But there’s a difference between loving the weekend and hating the week. If you seriously dread Monday, that’s not a good sign! Work shouldn’t make you anxious or sad, and if it has been doing so frequently, it’s time to get out of there.

2. You’re not learning anything new.

Workers commonly experience job dissatisfaction when there is little room for career progression. Do you know your job inside out? Your boss probably loves you, because skilled and experienced employees are hard to come by. But humans love to learn, so when your job stops providing you with new lessons and challenges, it’s entirely natural to feel a little bored. This could be an indicator it’s time for a promotion, or to sign up for a new course of study.

3. You hate talking about your job.

You know when you were a kid, how boring it was once the grown-ups started talking about work? You were right. Talking about work at a dinner party isn’t the most exciting conversation topic. And there’s always that one person who couldn’t have more to say about what they do, and how excellent it is. But at the end of the day, it is pretty awesome that they love their job so much. I’m happy for that person. If you can think of nothing worse than talking about what you do for work, it could be a sign that you don’t like your work very much.

4. You’ve got career envy.

Career envy is like food envy. We’ve all had food envy. You’re out to dinner and your partner orders pizza, but your order soup. The food arrives. It’s immediately obvious who made the better choice, and you are overcome with powerful food envy. That can happen with careers too! When you hear a friend or family member talking about their job, do you ever get a pang of jealousy? This probably means you like the sound of their job more than yours. Maybe you’re envious of their actual position, or maybe they’re in an industry you’d love to get involved with. Listen to this instinct, it’s your subconscious telling you to go get a job like theirs! Or maybe you’re jealous of how much they love their job. In which case, you don’t need their job, you just need a job that you’re better suited to. The thing is, there’s no reason you can’t find a role that has you talking excitedly at the dinner table about how great your day at work was. Let’s make it happen!

5. You catch yourself browsing employment websites.

Glancing at a job advertisement every now and then isn’t a concern, in fact, it’s really healthy to be keeping tabs on what the job market is like and what opportunities are out there for you. But if you find yourself visiting seek.comevery day or so, or if you’ve signed yourself up for employment alerts, it’s time to get real! Sounds like you want a new job, so let’s make it happen!

Alright, so you’ve figured out you’re ready for a career change. What next? Spend some time reflecting on precisely what you do and don’t like about your current job. Whether it’s a long or short list, take a look at what you’ve written down and figure out if it’s the industry or the role that’s the problem. For instance, if you love working in finance but you’re tired of being an administrative assistant, upskill yourself! Be ambitious. There’s no reason you weren’t destined to be in a leadership position, and our Dual Certificate IV In Project Management Practice And Leadership And Management (BSB41515/BSB42015) is just the thing to get you there.

Next, have a look at our previous article where we give you a run down on the Most In Demand Jobs for 2018. We also have Quick Career Guides on our blog Skillstalk blog to give you a sense of what else is out there. Changing careers will most likely involve learning a new skill, but don’t worry, we’re here to help.

Rosa Ritchie
Rosa is a freelance writer based in Melbourne. She is passionate about the education sector and has been published in various online magazines. When she's not studying or writing, she's making coffee or hanging out with her dog.